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Quantity of milk to send to daycare?

My baby is 5.5 months old. I know that the amounts shouldn't really change over time before 6 months, but here's the deal: I always used to send like 10 ounces for the 8 hours of separation but he always came home with an ounce or two left in the bottle. He was never forced to take more - if he was happy and didn't want more, she didn't push him. Which is great. The thing is, I was able to pump that amount in those days but lately I can't pump that much (more like 8 or 9 oz if lucky) so I don't know what to do. I have a bunch of frozen 5-oz packets so I send one of those each day, together with a 4-4.5oz of fresh from the day before and he drinks all of it! If I send 10 he'll finish that amount too. So I'm not sure what to do. I can't pump as much as he needs unless I add in more pumping when I come home from work. So apparently he started liking to drink more during the day but my supply hasn't figured that out yet.

My question is this: Should I pump an extra time to be able to send along more for him? Or should I just send in whatever I could pump during work - he is not a demanding type and barely demands to eat (I just feed him when I think it makes sense to, but it's often) so it's not like he'll cry for more.

Re: Quantity of milk to send to daycare?

Is baby nursing around the clock when you're together otherwise? No weight gain concerns?

I think if the answer to both of those questions is yes, and if your baby was comfortably following closer to the 1 oz per hour of separation track for this whole period, it's reasonable to keep aiming for that amount of milk to send.

That said, in my personal experience, pumping the necessary quantities of milk tended to get harder and harder as that year went on. So if I were in your shoes, I would likely go ahead and add in an additional pumping session. I'd want that additional demand!

Apologies for the short responses! I'm usually responding one-handed on my smartphone!

Re: Quantity of milk to send to daycare?

I agree with sonogirl, I think it's better to try to keep up with it. One question is, why has your pump output dropped? At 5.5 months, it could be time for some pump rehab - changing out the membranes for example, or possibly the valves/flanges (but start with the membranes). It's good that you're nursing lots when you're together, but the pump often is not as good as nursing at keeping up supply, so some moms find they do need to up the pumping to keep up.

Re: Quantity of milk to send to daycare?

I replaced the valves already but not the membranes. I can try doing that tomorrow. I did read somewhere that pumping output decreases with time, so I thought that's what's supposed to be happening. Like when the milk regulates.

Re: Quantity of milk to send to daycare?

Definitely try swapping those membranes out if you haven't! In my case, almost every single time I noticed a dip in my output over the first year, swapping out my membranes fixed the problem. I had to change mine out every 5-6 weeks, which is way more than the average mom, but I think it may have been because I pumped longer and more frequently than most working moms have to.

Apologies for the short responses! I'm usually responding one-handed on my smartphone!

Re: Quantity of milk to send to daycare?

Originally Posted by @llli*ruchiccio

I did read somewhere that pumping output decreases with time, so I thought that's what's supposed to be happening. Like when the milk regulates.

I would say it's not uncommon for pumping output to decrease with time, but unlike milk regulation, which is a physiologically normal process in which milk production lines up with baby's demand, with pumping it's more likely the difficulty of keeping supply up with the pump. With milk regulation, supply = demand. With decreasing pump output, supply can dip below demand, and that can become problematic. So it often needs to be countered by more pumping (if the pump rehab measures fall short).